2–3 T/H Sunflower Stalk Hammer Mill in Bulgaria

Why the Shumen Farm Needed Two-Stage Size Reduction

Sunflower stalk is more difficult to process than ordinary dry grass. Mature stalks can be thick, relatively woody on the outside and much lighter in the pithy center. When long stalks are fed directly toward a fine hammer-mill screen, they can bridge above the grinding chamber, enter unevenly and create large fluctuations in motor load.

The customer therefore uses a coarse-preparation stage ahead of the SFSP66×100. Loose stalks are inspected and unwanted material is removed before they are chopped to approximately 20–40 mm. These shorter pieces can be metered much more consistently into the hammer mill.

The hammer mill then performs the second-stage reduction. For this project, the customer does not need a very fine biomass-pellet powder. The target is an approximately 5–10 mm fibrous bedding material that can still retain useful structure while being much easier to distribute through the sheep pens than long stalk sections.

SFSP66×100 Project Configuration

The 2–3 T/H figure is the working capacity range used for this Bulgarian project. Actual output changes with stalk moisture, stem diameter, field contamination, screen opening, hammer condition and feeding continuity. A batch of clean, uniformly pre-chopped stalk can move toward the upper end of the range, while tougher material or a finer product requirement can reduce hourly throughput.

Bulgaria Provides a Strong Sunflower Residue Base

Bulgaria remains one of the important sunflower-producing countries in the European Union, so locating this project in northeastern Bulgaria gives the customer access to a realistic agricultural residue stream. The farm does not assume that every sunflower field around Shumen is available for collection. Residue supply is arranged with growers according to harvesting method, collection cost, storage space and the condition of the stalks after field drying.

This distinction matters because theoretical stalk production is always much greater than the quantity that can be collected economically. Some stalks remain in the field, while material heavily contaminated with soil or moisture may not be suitable for this bedding-processing route.

Moisture and Field Contamination Affect Grinding

The SFSP66×100 processes dried sunflower stalk rather than freshly cut green stems. For this project, approximately 10–15% moisture is used as the normal grinding condition. Drier, properly stored stalk fractures more predictably, while wet fibrous material can become more difficult to pass through the screen and may create buildup inside the grinding section.

Field contamination is another important factor. Soil and sand attached to stalk bases are abrasive and can accelerate hammer and screen wear. Wire, stones and metal fragments are also unsuitable for the grinding chamber. The customer therefore includes cleaning and magnetic protection before the hammer mill rather than relying on stronger hammers to compensate for poor raw-material preparation.

Wear-resistant hammer options can be evaluated where abrasive contamination is difficult to eliminate, but carbide-faced hammers are not treated as universally mandatory. Their economic value depends on the actual stalk cleanliness and annual operating hours.

From 20–40 mm Stalk Pieces to 5–10 mm Bedding Fiber

The most important processing specification in this project is the size change across the hammer mill. After coarse chopping, sunflower stalk enters at approximately 20–40 mm. The SFSP66×100 crusher machine then reduces the material into an approximately 5–10 mm fibrous fraction.

The final product is not perfectly uniform. Hammer milling produces a particle distribution rather than identical pieces, and the soft internal pith can create more fines than the woody outer stalk. Screen opening therefore controls the upper end of the material more directly than it controls every individual particle.

The customer selected this moderately coarse target because the material is used as bedding rather than as pellet-mill feed. Grinding it unnecessarily to 3–5 mm would increase energy use and fines without providing a clear benefit for this application.

Dust Collection Is Important with Sunflower Pith

Dry sunflower stalk produces fibrous dust during grinding, and the soft pith inside the stem can break into particularly fine particles. The processing section therefore includes aspiration and dust separation after the hammer mill.

A cyclone can separate much of the conveyed material from the air stream, while an appropriate filter handles the finer dust according to the actual airflow and emission-control design. RICHI does not assign a fixed 99% collection figure without knowing the filter area, media, air volume and dust loading.

Good aspiration also supports grinding capacity by helping material move through the screen instead of repeatedly circulating inside the chamber. Dust control and hammer-mill output therefore need to be considered together.

Why a 2–3 T/H Machine Fits a 1,500-Sheep Operation

The farm does not need to run the SFSP66×100 continuously every day. Sunflower stalk availability is seasonal, while bedding is consumed gradually throughout the year. The customer's operating strategy is therefore to grind residue in concentrated production batches and build a covered inventory of prepared bedding material.

At approximately 2–3 T/H, a six-hour grinding shift can process about 12–18 tonnes of prepared stalk. The farm can schedule these runs when dry residue is available rather than operating a small grinder for many hours every week. This batch-processing logic explains why a machine with relatively high hourly capacity can still be reasonable for an operation with around 1,500 sheep.

Ground Stalk Still Needs Proper Bedding Management

The hammer mill changes the physical form of the stalk; it does not by itself prove that the resulting material will always outperform straw or wood shavings. Bedding performance also depends on moisture, fines level, pen conditions, stocking density and how frequently material is added or removed.

The customer therefore checks the ground stalk before use and avoids material that is moldy, excessively dusty or contaminated. The 5–10 mm target gives the farm a practical starting point for distribution in the pens, while actual bedding management remains an operational decision for the livestock facility.

This avoids unsupported claims such as a fixed 25% longer bedding life or 40% cost reduction. Those figures would vary substantially between farms and require actual controlled operating records.

Shipping from Qingdao to Varna and Shumen

The SFSP66×100 Sunflower Stalk Hammer Mill in Bulgaria is prepared for export from Qingdao, China, with the Port of Varna used as the Bulgarian entry point before inland transport to the Shumen area. Varna is particularly suitable for this project because Shumen is only around 80 km inland and the port handles containers, general cargo and industrial project cargo.

Before shipment, RICHI reviews the grinder foundation, electrical load, feeding elevation, pre-chopper discharge, magnetic protection, aspiration connection and finished-material conveying arrangement. This allows the hammer mill to be integrated with the customer's residue-processing equipment without replacing unnecessary parts of the system.

What to Confirm Before Selecting a Sunflower Stalk Hammer Mill

• Required grinding capacity in T/H;
• whole stalk diameter, length and collection method;
• moisture after field drying and storage;
• soil, sand, stone and metal contamination;
• pre-chopped size entering the hammer mill;
• required final particle-size range;
• daily or seasonal operating schedule;
• existing chipper, feeder and dust-control equipment.

A 2–3 T/H Sunflower Stalk Hammer Mill in Bulgaria

This Sunflower Stalk Hammer Mill in Bulgaria project uses one RICHI SFSP66×100 with a 110 kW main motor to process dry sunflower residue near Shumen. Whole stalks are cleaned and pre-chopped to approximately 20–40 mm before entering the grinder. The hammer mill then produces approximately 5–10 mm bedding material at a working capacity of around 2–3 T/H.

For another Bulgarian farm or agricultural residue processor, RICHI Machinery needs representative stalk photos, maximum stem diameter, moisture, contamination level, pre-chopped size, required final size, target T/H and existing upstream and dust-control equipment. These parameters allow the hammer mill, screen and feeding arrangement to be selected around the actual sunflower stalk rather than a generic biomass-grinding specification.